Middle Sex

What's better than Detroit's Race Riots, Hermaphrodites, and Grecian incest? The Book Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, which contains all of the above.

Middlesex is the story of the Stephanides family, from Lefty and Desdemona Stephanides' escape from Bursa in Turkey (though they are ethnically Greek) to Calliope Stephanides, Lefty and Desdemona's grand daughter, growing up in 1960's Detroit.

Eugenides uses language well, frames the story impeccably and makes the reader really care and understand the characters. The unusual subject of hermaphrodites in the story only helps to draw the reader in. The main character, and said hermaphrodite, Calliope is both tragic and inspiring. Many of the problems she goes through as a teenager are typical problems with an interesting twist.

The book does not stay centered on Cal, though, and often brings up Race and Ethnicity as a main theme. Whether it is Detroit's communities being unaccepting of Greek immigrants or race relations between whites and blacks in Detroit.

The book isn't just about race relations, hermaphrodites, or immigrants. The book is about Detroit, about life, and about the problems people have in love. It is a great read and Eugenides deserves the Pulitzer Prize that Middlesex won.